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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The time has come for me to release a brand new and exciting Good Rock Music Mix. I have been incredibly busy recently, attempting to work full time temp positions at various record labels while also working lengthy part time hours as well. Hopefully this wont last too much longer, as I have had little time to relax, sleep, and update the blog.

With that said, I have had time to create the new mix, and after mixing it to make sure the flow is exceptional, it is finally ready! I cut into my little bit of sleep to put the finishing touches on this two disc set, and am particularly pleased. Included are yet more excellent Toadies songs in celebration of the most incredible tour schedule (at least for me) that was recently announced. So please and enjoy and let me know what you think of Dan Goldin presents...Good Rock Music vol. 18!

SOME NOTES ON THE ARTISTS:A Perfect Circle - I noticed that I had never included anything from APC on any of my mixes. While because of the inclusion of Maynard, I can't help but feel that I might as well just put on a Tool track, APC are a great band on their own right. Billy Howerdel, who wrote, produced, and played guitar for APC, is an excellent song writer and guitarist and creates such beautiful atmospheric moods with his brooding songs. He recently released his first solo album under the name Ashes Divide, which is definitely worth obtaining yourself a copy! Included on this mix are two of my more recent APC favorites from their incredible sophomore album. In my opinion, APC have created some of the most beautiful music ever written in the hard rock genres.

Barkmarket - Fast approaching to becoming one of my favorite bands, Barkmarket did things the way they wanted, with no exceptions. Uncompromising in every way, and it couldn't sound better. Check out theirs albums Gimmick and L Ron, and I will have reviews of them ASAP.

Mark Lanegan projects - I have featured several different Mark Lanegan projects to showcase his diverse yet always consistent musical ventures. His bands included on these discs include Screaming Trees, solo, The Gutter Twins, Mad Season, and Twilight Singers. He collaborated in 1994 with Mad Season, a grunge era side project of Layne Staley (Alice in Chains), Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees), Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), and bassist John Baker Saunders. The track including on this mix features the tortured and tormented voices of both Staley and Lanegan harmonizing over a scathing heavy grunge riff.

Torche - Call them doom-pop, heavy metal grunge, or whatever you'd like, Torche are the best thing to happen to "metal" in a long time, and they prove it on their new album, Meandethal! Released on Hydra Head Records, the new album contains 13 tracks with blistering ferocity that could peel the rust of a can, complete with a unique sense of dense vocal melodies. The songs are delivered in a way that only Torche can pull off with such lush heaviness that remains simple and accessible to any rock fans. I HIGHLY recommend this album, and buying a real physical copy at that, as the album artwork is equally incredible.

Local H - Their new album hits stores on May 13th, and I feel it's their best since their breakthrough sophomore album. Three of the tracks are featured here. Please support the band and pick up their album when it is released.

House of Blow - While many years in the making, HOB are a project featuring Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw/Head Automatica) and Hatebreed's F. Sean Martin. While both of these musicians would lead you to think this is a heavy hardcore band, its not what you would expect. They make guitar based hip-hop sounding beats with Daryl singing. The combination sounds great, check them out on their myspace page where you can download both of their songs.

Deftones - Change was a huge hit for them back when The White Pony was released, and rightfully so. The change in dynamics from Around the Fur, their previous album, to White Pony was incredible, and they did it without losing a step or alienating their long time fan base. Change is a great track that not only shows the "change" in the band, but allows for the chaos to slowly seep into the beauty creating a haunting and piercing urgency.

Stone Temple Pilots - I was recently listening to their last album released, Shangri-La-Dee-Da in my excitement for their reunion. I realized that I hadn't even given that album too many listens. While it doesn't really compare with their other classics, it is still a pretty great album. Bi-Polar Bear is my favorite track on it, with the great verse-hook/soft-loud dynamics.

Last night Nine Inch Nails released their new single to radio, called Discipline. What is this single from? An upcoming album? Who knows...but on www.NIN.com, the ever strong internet presence of Trent Reznor has yet again amazed me by releasing the single as a free download, the same day it was released. So head over there and download your copy of the great new single.

I wouldn't be shocked if there is a brand new album in the works coming very soon, so I'm just going to keep my hopes up!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the moment we've all been waiting for (or at least me...) is finally here, the Toadies are touring the EAST COAST!!! While the entire tour consists of only seven dates, and only five of those are actually on the East Coast, that is more than enough for me! I will be attending both their shows in New York and Boston! If anyone is interested in attending either of those dates with me, let me know. The New York show is already sold out, and I assume that Boston will do the same very shortly, so get your tickets quickly. While this information was released last week, I wanted to make sure I had my tickets secured before I made the announcement. I was concerned with the shows selling out, but now that I have already purchased my tickets, it's only fitting that I post this amazing news. I expect them to announce their full return and that they are working on a new album very soon. This is just further proof that miracles do happen! Dates are as follows...

** As if the festival announcements that Stone Temple Pilots having been announcing like wild fire over the past few weeks, today they announced their full form return as a band, complete with a monstrous 65 date nationwide tour, followed be a brand new album. While I enjoyed Velvet Revolver's first album, and loved the Army of Anyone release, I couldn't be more excited for the reunion of one of the greatest and most memorable bands of the grunge movement. This summer's shows are all amphitheater/pavilion shows, but I hope they will play smaller, more intimate shows after this tour wraps up. This tour offers one of the greatest things I've witnessed in the fact that the fans contain control of each show's setlist. Fans can vote on their new website, www.stonetemplepilots.com on their ultimate setlist for each individual date. For every person who has ever imagined a setlist of their favorite tracks, here is your opportunity! Either way, it's an incredible gift to music to have these four men playing together again. Dates include:

** Another great tour of interest in the next few weeks comes from Local H! In support of their new album, Twelve Angry Months, which will be released on May 13th, the boys will be heading out on an extensive club tour, kicking off in Chicago with a seven night long residency. During this week, Local H will play each of their seven albums in their entirety starting with their first album, Ham Fisted, and moving all the way through their career until they reach the forthcoming release. As Local H has made a career's worth of concept albums, these dates will be truly incredible. I would be sure to attend all seven if only I could be in Chicago, but I don't see it happening for me unfortunately. A true concept album is always a great artistic achievement in rock as far as I'm concerned, and Local H are one of very few grunge bands to frequent the form. Dates for their tour include:

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The headliners were announced today for the second annual Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore, Maryland. They are...

NINE INCH NAILSSTONE TEMPLE PILOTSFOO FIGHTERSKANYE WESTJACK JOHNSON

The festival takes place on August 9th to the 10th. Ticket sales dates haven't been posted yet. While I can't say I'm excited to see Kanye or Jack Johnson, the idea of being able to see NIN and STP together is a dream come true! I know I'll be there!! I will update with the rest of the acts as they are announced. Odds are there will be a handful more or good bands, at least I'm hopeful.

**** In other amazing concert news, King Crimson will be doing a select amount of American concert dates in August. Gavin Harrison, drummer from Porcupine Tree, will be joining the line-up for all the shows! More on this as it develops as well!!